Machine for supplying treatment material to voids beneath pavement structures



ER 2,286,761 MENT MATERIAL T0 UCTURES 5... Jpne 16, 1942.

J. W. POULT MACHINE FOR SUB ,ING TREAT VOIDS BENE Filed Feb i 16 W I 171 I VIII/I4 BY 7 J W Patented June 16, 1942 MACHINE FOR SUPPLYING'TREATMENT MATERIAL TO VOIDS BENEATH PAVE- MENT STRUCTURES John W.Poulter, Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to Koehring Company, Milwaukee, Wis, acorporation Application February 24, 1941, Serial No. 380,350

4 Claims. (61. 94-39) This invention relates to the art of treatingsubgrade conditions of pavements, and comprises a machine designed foreffecting the filling of voids that are created beneath the pavement orpavement slabs of concrete and like pavements or roads, due to theaction of vehicular trafiic that passes over such roads, or othercauses.

Observation of modern road structures, particularly so-called concreteroads, discloses that as heavy vehicles progress over such roads, theycreate by their weight a certain amount of vertical movement of the slabsections adjacent to the transverse joints, or of portions of the slabsor road structures adjacent to cracks that may be caused in one way oranother clue to the traffic on the road or failure of the concrete orlike material from which the road is made to maintain its integrity ofits original emplace- -ment.

When the movement of the road structure; particularly as aifected by thevehicular traific takes place, it, of course, acts upon the materials ofthe subgrade for'obvious reasons.

Under ordinary conditions of use of the road, water frequently enters atthe joint or at cracks in the road, or from the sides or edges of theroad structure, where the shoulders are 'commonly built of gravel orsimilar material. The constant up and down movement of the portions ofthe road or slab construction referred to creates a pumping action bythe road structure itself which, when water has entered beneath themovable sections of the road, willact to force the water forwardly andrearwardly at the joint or cracked portions, as well as laterally towardthe shoulders. This constant pumping action, especially when water ispresent, actually forces the subgrade material from beneath the road,usually in a lateral direction, creating pockets or recesses at theshoulder edges of the road and constituting exposed voids, and ofgreater moment, creating beneath the road structure itself at the placeswhere the pumping action takes place, considerable voids, spaces orpockets that are required to be filled if the road structure is to bemaintained properly for efficient travel use, and if said structure isto be prevented from ultimately breaking up and thus becomingpractically destroyed to the extent of requiring entire replacement.

I have proposed and covered in my Patent No. 2,074,756, issued March 23,1937, a machine for emplacing fluid beneath concrete roads where voidsare found to exist, which machine is likewise capable of effectingraising of the pavement beneath the road structure, a cementitious fluidadapted to set or become hardened in order to occupy the space ofcertain types of voids that may be created beneath said road structure.

I have found, however, that the process of replacing concrete orcementitious materials in voids created by the pumping action of theslabs or sections of the roads, presents a special problem. This problemlies in the fact that usually water is received and retained in thevoids and there are other problems incident to the capillary nature ofthe subgrade materials beneath the road structure.

The machine of the present invention deals with these problems in thatit embodies certain improvements applicable to the type of my machinedisclosed by my Patent No. 2,074,756,

adapting said machine for handling a treatment material in fluid orliquid form with provisions for supplying air under pressure to thematerial in an intermittent or pulsating manner especially desirable forthe proper emplacement of said fluid material in the voids of the roadstructure.

The fluid material handled by the machine of this invention is largelymade up by mixing a fine silt loam with approximately ten percent (10%)of Portland cement and approximately ten percent (10%) of light asphalt,asphaltic oil, or

- similar bituminous material so as to provide a very thin slurry with ahigh percentage of water, namely, an amount ofabout sixty percent toeighty percent The said fluid material when the useful slurry isobtained must not contain any coarse or harsh material, and preferablyshould contain some clay or other very fine-like substance, so as toproduce a colloidal suspension affecting the soil particles and also thebituminous material.

The improvements of this invention, as largely distinguished from thesubject matter ofmy patent above referred to, will now be set forth,upon reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine showing certain uppermembers thereof such as the actuating bail or cross head in section, andalso the air valve unit in section.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary View showing the essential parts added by thepresent invention to the previously used and patented construction of mymachine, whereby said machine is adapted for the handling of the airthat is employed to assist in the proper filling of the voids in thepavement structure being treated by the use of the machine.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 33 of Figure2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure3.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, there is illustrated a machinegenerally'of the construction depicted by Figures 4 to 6 of my PatentNo. 2,074,756.

Without going into unnecessary detail, those versed in the art willunderstand that this machine comprises the receptacle I for receivingthe fluid or liquid material with which the subgrade of the pavingstructure is to be treated, said material constituting virtually afiller for voids and like spaces beneath the pavement structure.

The receptacle I is supported by a wheeled body 2, the wheels of whichare designated 3, and said body carries an engine 4, by which to drivethe cranks 5 connected to the pitman rods 6. The rods 6 in turn areconnected to rocking beams I. The parts 5, 6, and I are in duplicate,and set of these parts is disposed on each side of the machine after themanner of the illustration in my previous patent.

The levers or beams I are connected to the side members 8 of a crosshead or bail 9. To the intermediate portion of the member 9 is attacheda piston rod I carrying at its lower end the piston II operating in thecylinder I2, the upper end of which is open through the bottom of thereceptacle I to the interior thereof so that the fluid material in thereceptacle I may flow into the cylinder I2, through the piston II. Thepiston rod I0 is so connected to the piston II, that it slides in a yokeI3 at the upper end of the pie-- ton having openings in communicationwith the receptacle I, the lower end of the rod II carrying a valve I4which closes down on its valve seat as the piston rod IE] movesdownwardly, and

raises from its valve seat as the piston rod I0" moves upwardly.

The action of the piston II and its rod Ill is :such, therefore, that asthe piston raises, fluid material in the receptacle I may pass down into:the cylinder I2 and as the piston rod l0 lowers' :the valve I4 isclosed against the piston II and :acts with the piston as a forcingmeans to carry the fluid material received in the cylinder I2 to thenozzle I at the bottom of the cylinder and projecting downwardly belowthe machine itself;.

II to prevent the creation of suction in the noz-' zle I5 during suchmovement.

The spring |2a at the top of the nozzle and a valve member |2b having astem I20 slidable in a bearing member I2d comprise a check valve. Anenlarged head I2e on the stem |2c is adapted to seat against the seatmember I2 f at the bottom of the cylinder, to prevent a return of themud back through the cylinder I2, when the pressure under the pavementslab through which the nozzle I5 has been introduced would ordinarilytend to return the mud, as above indicated. When the valve member I4 onthe piston rod I0 is caused to close on the downstroke thereof, it willbe apparent that the mud in the interior of the piston II and in thecylinder I2,

which has previously been permitted to flow into the above members, willcause the valve head |2e to be depressed and the mud forced through thenozzle. The spring I2a will under any condition tend to close the valveand permit a quantity of mud to accumulate in the cylinder I2 prior tothe action of the valve member I4, said piston rod being slidable insaid operating head.

The novel air means for my machine is seen best at the top of Figure 1and in Figure 2. It comprises a suitable pipe or conduit I6 having acontrol valve I1 and adapted to be connected by a hose or any suitableconduit I8 to a source of supply of air under pressure. Said source ofsupply may be a compressor located adjacent to the machine of theinvention, or any other suitable source.

The pipe I6 is carried by the bail or cross head 9 by any suitable rigidbracket means Ifia and from said pipe I6 leads the air conduit I9laterally and downwardly at one side of the machine to the nozzle I5 andcommunicating with the interior of the nozzle intermediate the ends ofthe latter.

Carried by the pipe I6 adjacent the valve I1 is an automatic valvecomprising a casing 20 and valve 2| therein. The valve 2| is adapted toopen and close against a seat 22 and the stem of the valve 2| projectsoutwardly and downwardly from the pipe I6 and casing 20 so as to beengageable by a trip plate 23 rigidly secured to the piston rod I0 inany suitable manner.

On the up-stroke of the piston II and its rod, the bail 9 and casing 20are lifted to engage abutment 25 relieving the pressure of plate 23 onlower end of valve stem, permitting valve 2| to close against the seat22. The opposite action of the valve 2| in opening is caused when theparts 9 and 20 move sufiiciently downwardly rela tively to the rod Iilto cause the plate 23 to push valve 2| upward to open position.

For the above action, it is necessary that there be relative movement ofthe rod Ill and the plate 23 as respects the bail or cross head 9 andthe valve casing 20 and pipe I6, which are stationary in relation tosaid bail. For the above purpose, the upper end of the piston rod I0passes through the intermediate portion of the bail or head 9 and shiftsrelatively to said last mentioned part by reason of the provision of ashoulder 24 on the rod ID and the washer or abutment 25 which two partsare spaced a slightly greater distance apart than the vertical sectionaldimension of the member 9.

From the foregoing description, the operation of my machine may bebriefly described as follows:

The treatment of the voids beneath the pavement structure involves theboring of holes at different places through the pavement section andleading to the void which is to be supplied with the filler materialfrom the receptacle I. When a hole is bored and the filling or treatmentoperation is to be commenced, my machine is wheeled over the place wherethe hole in the pavement is located through shifting of the machine bythe handles 26 after the manner of movement of a wheelbarrow.

The nozzle I5 is introduced into the hole in the pavement and byoperation of the valve II, the latter is opened to such an extent as tosupply a sufficient amount of air under pressure to the air line orconduit I9 as experience proves to be desirable, according to theparticular conditions appertaining to the particular treatment action totake place.

I Thereupon the operation of the piston II, rod I0, and valve I4 willcause the fluid filler material to be supplied from the receptacle I tothe nozzle I5 and inject it through the opening in the pavement to thevoid or space below that is to be treated. As the bail 9 and piston rodI move downwardly, the trip plate 23 will cause valve 2| to open andsupply the pressure air to the nozzle l5 at the same time that thepiston I I is ejecting the fluid filler material from the cylinder I2through the nozzle I5 into the voids beneath the pavement.

As the piston II moves up with the rod Ill to enable a fresh charge oftreatment material to enter the cylinder I2, the initial action of thepiston rod I0, moving as it does relatively to the cross head 9 willcause the shoulder 24 on the rod I0 to abut with the cross head 9 andwhen the head 9 reaches its upper limit of movement the plate releasesor disengages from the stem of valve 2| so that the latter closes to cutoff the air through the conduit I9. This prevents the air from passingthrough the nozzle I5 until the next down movement of the head 9, andpiston II.

The valve I1 is used both for cutting off entirely the supply of air tothe conduit I9 and the pipe I6 as well as for regulating the amount offlow of such air.

When the void beneath the pavement through which the nozzle I5 hassupplied the fluid filler material is filled or the subgrade materialsunder the pavement sufficiently treated, the handles 26 are raised toremove the nozzle I5 from the bored opening, the machine is moved ontothe next hole that is to be used for filling another void, and thepreviously used hole is plugged.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A machine for emplacing filler material beneath pavement structures,comprising, in combination, supply means for the filler material, acylinder to receive the filler material from the supply means, a nozzlecommunicating with the cylinder and through which the filler material isintroduced to a void below the pavement structure, piston mechanismoperating in the cylinder comprising a piston and piston rod, anoperating head for the piston rod, provisions by which the operatinghead and piston rod are movable relatively to each other, air supplymeans carried by the head and comprising an air conduit leading to thenozzle, at a point adjacent the opening through which the fillermaterial enters the nozzle, a valve controlling the passage of airthrough said conduit, and an instrumentality operable by the piston rodfor controlling the air supply action of said valve.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlling valve forthe air conduit is mounted upon the head and wherein the instrumentalityoperated by the piston rod comprises a trip plate on the piston rodcoacting with the said valve.

3. A machine for emplacing filler material beneath pavement structures,comprising, in combination supply means for the filler material, acylinder to receive the filler material from the supply means, a nozzlecommunicating with the cylinder and through which the filler material isintroduced to a void below the pavement structure, piston mechanismcomprising a piston and piston rod, an operating head for the pistonrod, operating means for said head provisions by which the operatinghead and piston rod are movable relatively to each other, air supplymeans carried by the head and comprising an air conduit leading to thenozzle, an air pipe on the head connected with said conduit, anautomatic controlling valve carried by said air pipe for cutting off andpermitting passage of air through said conduit to the nozzle, and a tripplate carried by the piston rod and movable with it to close the airconduit when the piston operated by said rod is moving to permit acharge of material to enter the cylinder, said trip plate cooperatingwith said valve to open the same at the commencement of the movement ofthe rod to effect discharge of the filler material received by thecylinder to cause same to pass through the nozzle.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the piston rod passesthrough the head and is movable relatively thereto, the said rod beingprovided with a shoulder below the head and an abutment above the headspaced apart a greater distance than the vertical sectional dimension ofthe head to thereby permit the relative movement of the piston rod andhead necessary to cause actuation of the controlling valve by the tripplate.

JOHN W. PO-ULTELR.

